1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems for monitoring vehicle parking, and more particularly to systems that monitor vehicle parking using a plurality of wireless RFID tags and barcode.
2. Background Art
Parking enforcement is common in a variety of settings, including parking lots, street parking, and parking structures. Such enforcement may include absolute enforcement, for areas in which no parking is permitted, or the rules may call for conditional enforcement, which includes permit-only parking or meter parking.
One way in which institutions attempt to enforce parking is by provide parking tags for placement within the interior of a vehicle as a means of identifying a car during conditional enforcement. Typically, a parking attendant must visually inspect a vehicle for the presence of the tag and, in the case of an infraction, the attendant is tasked with having to manually issue a citation. Monitoring parking in this fashion is time consuming and costly, particularly in large spaces such as multi-level buildings and city blocks. Furthermore, bad weather, such as a heavy falling of snow, can preclude a parking monitor from visually verifying the tag in an outdoor parking area.
While parking monitoring systems have been described, they are typically limited to the absolute detection of a vehicle in a parking spot. These systems are often used in parking garages or other structures to determine vacancy or to collect statistics. As a significant disadvantage, these parking systems do not apply parking restrictions to determine whether a vehicle is parked in a spot where it should not be. As a further disadvantage, a parking monitor may be tasked with manually gathering information about a vehicle to report to a towing service, and may also, or instead be required to mark the car for a tow truck to identify.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an automated parking enforcement system that can save time and cost in a number of parking environments.